Sunday, December 2, 2012

The animals CAN NOT speak for themselves so they all need as many voices to shout "GIVE US BETTER CONDITIONS" Thats where we come in. Only 2 minutes at the most to sign a petition that hopefully will make more awareness.Petition here

Hi readears, as some know I have had a beef with Little Rock Zoos care of the Chimpanzees so i would just assume that the other species are being cared for in the same way. The USDA is useless. i dealt with them for years. Zoos, santuaries and experimantal facilities are treated one way by the USDA (VERY CARTERED TO) You can go trough the posts and see how many Apes have died there in 2 years including a very young chimpanzee I owned by the name of Louie)
Please sign the petition here

These are caged and helpless animals, and without someone on the outside to defend them nothing will change. We have pictures and a we have a video of a lion being mercilessly teased through the glass, and no one caring. The panthers back bone and ribs show and he hardly moves, he needs to be retired. TheTiger just paces back and forth roaring pleading for someone to do something. Penguins are featherless and in the summer they have no ice to retreat to.

News

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Need I say More?!!!!! Animals die there and a few days its all forgotten!!! What about the precious animals lives that YOU PEOPLE were responsible for?

Story

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - Another dog attack in the area killed five farm animals at the Little Rock Zoo.
In this latest case, the dogs killed four goats and one sheep and injured several others. Zookeepers spotted the dogs early Thursday morning and found where they got in, but the dogs got away.
Workers with Little Rock Animal Services were called to the Little Rock Zoo Thursday, leaving behind a dog trap after the deadly attack.
"We're going to be very vigilant about this because we've never had an incident like this before," Zoo Director Mike Blakely said.
Blakely said around 7 a.m. Thursday, zoo staff made the rounds to the Children's Farm exhibit where they found two animals that didn't belong there.
"One was a pit-bull apparently light in color, the other one is a brown and white pit-bull terrier mix, not very big dogs," Blakely said.
The dogs got in after squeezing under an area of the zoo's perimeter fence that was being prepared to lay concrete over a drainage pipe.
The zoo is working with Little Rock Animal Services on this case. Blakely said officials there tell him that the dogs are similar to the ones that got in the Dunbar Community Gardenlast week, killing five animals.
"It certainly isn't out of the realm of possibility that those dogs could have traveled from that part of the city over to the zoo," Blakely said.
While that connection remains under investigation, the zoo will keep those traps on hand. Blakely says this is a tough loss for his staff.
"To have them die like this, to realize how they died, it's a very difficult thing to come to grips with," said Blakely.
The zoo is temporarily closing the Children's Farm Exhibit. Crews have also re-inspected the fence for weak spots.

For all of the readers that know my history, and for those that don't, I allowed the Little Rock Zoo to have custody of my 2 young chimps A FEW YEARS AGO. Since then, the youngest one 7 yrs old died there last year so I keep as close of watch on the other one Mikey to make sure nothing happens to him.
The photo below I found on the Internet from someone visiting the Little Rock Zoo. This is a photo of a chimp!!!! This chimp looks like it has been losing its HAIR for awhile. I think this chimps name is chance who was one year older than Mikey when my chimps arrived at The Little Rock zoo. Boy little boy looks like hes so sick. But of course as I have found out they use a reptile vet for Chimpanzees.NOT GOOD. I had 3 special Dr.s that would care for Primates only.

My little chimp that passed away, his name was Louie. I saw a photo of Louie from a visitor about one month before he passed. His whole body was swollen. I thought they were feeding him too much. I believe that he had a thyroid problem and it was never taken care of. Such a sweet little boy to have died because of the lack of knowledge that the "REPTILE" vet wouldn't have. Shame on you Little Rock Zoo!!!! Get a Primate Vet!!!!! Take some of those visitors money and hire one!!!!!!

You better take care of this one!!! I'm watching!

Thank you to the person that took this photo.

Looks at how his lips come up a bit and are still touching. Thats a sad face, a pouty face, an uhappy face.. Poor Chance I hope we dont read about him in the future or Im going to get the USDA out there AGAIN to see whats going on!!!!! Knowing the Little Rock Zoo this is acceptable because now he looks like a freak which will bring much more money in. PLEASE HELP HIM!!!! Little Rock Zoos history of caring for Great Apes is NOT good!!! I love you Chance and my heart is with you.

Little Rock Zoo, you need to step up and get some REAL professional to take care of these wonderful Individuals!!!!!!!

Here is a photo I found of my ex-chimpanzee Mikey at the Little Rock Zoo that was taken by another visitor in July Look at his hair. Its beautiful!!!!When we left them, both chimps had beautiful long shinny black hair. They were BOTH very healthy. Look at his shoulder, he's losing his hair there!!!!!!! They must all be stressed out or a VERY BAD DIET!!!

Little Rock step up and take responsibilities for these animals. You promised me the safety of both Louie and Mikey and you have NOT kept your part of the bargain MR. Steve Ross. Steve Ross Haha is in charge of the species survival for Great Apes within the zoos. Looks like he needs to be fired. Oh just a note on his back ground. he was a person that for years did experiments on Chimpanzees!!!! No wonder they are dieing off. That was his choice of career which shows me he has NO respect for these animals. See, that's whats wrong with people in wrong positions. Go back to slicing and dicing Steve Ross!!!!! This time do it on rats.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

The Little Rock Zoo introduces a new baby gorilla to the world. The baby was born Aug. 19 to gorillas Sekani and Fossey. The gorilla family just recently went outside for the first time since the birth of the baby. The Zoo staff report that mother and baby appear healthy and that the baby is nursing well.
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Well, Lets see The Little Rock Zoo in the past few years has had 1 Gorilla Die, one baby dumped at another zoo and now another baby!!!!

In My opinion these people don't care about the animals, they care about the "attractions" as they call them they care about the money. Gorilla dies oh well there's a baby here and more people want to see the babies then the magnificent older Silverback Gorilla. So now another baby gorilla is expected so what do they do? They send the other baby Gorilla to the Lincoln Park Zoo so they can have a money maker also. Why not keep the families together so the young ones can grow up with each other. OH NO we want money at both zoos the hell with the babies growing up together like they would do in their natural state.

ZOO CLOSED - Private Event

The Little Rock Zoo will be CLOSED on Sunday, September 16th, for a private event.

The Zoo WILL BEOPEN on Monday, September 17th.

Well folks what do you all think about this? A "Private Event" Sounds like a party to me. Closing down the zoo on a weekend day and loose all of that money from the visitors? Boy they must be paying an awful lot for this party. Zoos don't believe in private people owning some of these animals and they especially don't like it when they are brought to parties for money Gosh this sounds like the very thing they are against. Oh that right only good for them!

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Then maybe they shouldnt be having all of these huge apes in such a tiny confinement. Why let mom have another one. Gorillas will cover hundreds of miles per day and here they are stuck in tiny little cages at night (I have seen their cage and actually held this baby gorillas hand) and then during the day about 1/2 acre. No wonder these gorillas die of heart attacks at young ages. They get no excersize!!!!! They already had a Gorilla die, in the past 2 years. This is abuse as far as Im concerned. They give us this bullshit that they are perserving the species. Don't they understand that they are preserving nothing if they can't live the way they are sppose to.

Primate Keeper Daphne Pfeiffer and Kristin Harris were the keepers there when we arrived with our chimpanzees, Mikey and Louie. Daphne was one of the keepers that were "SUPPOSE" to be taking care of our little Chimp Louie, who passed away THERE at the age of 6 years old. These people do not know what they are doing with the Apes. Most of them have no education in the species they care for. I hold Little Rock Zoo, Daphne Pfeiffer and Kristin Harris responsible for the death of a very healthy little chimp. OUR CHIMP! LOUIE!

Daphne Pfeiffer is also the one that insisted that we let our chimps out of their carry cages so her and Kristin could see the chimps. More like play with them. Daphne walked all around the dungeon they call a inside habitat (actually under the ground) with Mikey my 7 yr old on her back. She walked and showed him all around. They were giving each other kisses on the mouth and playing. While Daphne was having fun with Mikey, Kristin had Little Louie (NOW DEAD), and was playing with him.

Now you tell me. Does this sound like people that are professionals or people that work there because they like to play with the animals but then on their other side of their face, they tell the public that Chimps should not be pets. Um.......

Story-
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The first gorilla to be born at the Little Rock Zoo is leaving home.

Zoo officials say 5-year-old Mosi will eventually start to challenge his father, Fossey, for dominance in the family group and must be moved to keep the peace.

Primate keeper Daphne Pfeiffer told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/GQlDWP) Mosi probably won't really challenge his father until he is 8 or 9, but employees are beginning to see some irritation on the part of the females toward him. He'll be 6 on Oct. 10.

Primate keeper Daphne Pfeiffer told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Mosi probably won't really challenge his father until he is 8 or 9, but employees are beginning to see some irritation on the part of the females toward him.

Officials are going to ship him off to the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, where he'll join a bachelor group.

Gorillas live in family groups consisting of a mature male, several females and their young.

Monday, March 19, 2012

A mother claims her family was discriminated against at the Little Rock Zoo Sunday because her children are of mixed race and adopted.

Dana Newman, who is white, says her family drove more than three hours from Salem, AR to visit the zoo. Her family includes two adult biological children and 9 adopted children, only 1 of whom is white, the rest are of other races.

When they arrived at the zoo gate, Newman says, because her kids don't look like her, they were told they couldn't use the family pass without proving they were really a family; the employee at the gate even asked to see adoption decrees.

Newman says they were held up for more than half an hour, their children growing more upset as other families were let in around them.
"There was a couple behind us and I asked them, are you going to ask for a birth certificate for that child? I mean, that's insane," Newman said.

Eventually, a supervisor allowed them in. Zoo officials say they've been having a problem with day care centers abusing the family pass system, so employees may have been trying to verify that the Newmans were not in fact a business.

We spoke with the Zoo Director. He apologized and said they would likely be doing some sensitivity training for employees in the future.
Story Credit and video Here

A mother claims her family was discriminated against at the Little Rock Zoo Sunday because her children are of mixed race and adopted.

Dana Newman, who is white, says her family drove more than three hours from Salem, AR to visit the zoo. Her family includes two adult biological children and 9 adopted children, only 1 of whom is white, the rest are of other races.

When they arrived at the zoo gate, Newman says, because her kids don't look like

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Hi Readers;
Any of my readers that are here often, certainly know who Jeanne Rizzotto is, the GREAT liar. I was also one of her victims.

A friend of mine who owns another blog, click here left him a message telling us a little about where Jeanne Rizzotto is. Sounds like she is still up to her old tricks. My grandmother always use to say to me, "what goes around comes around" I guess its her turn now. Hope she had fun when she had money because with Goggle now a days anyone can find out whatever they like about someone. No one will hire her, GOOD for them! Perhaps Jeanne Rizzotto will learn to stop taking other peoples money.

I think it's funny that she talked so bad about me losing my chimps and my house and now the tables are turned. I now live on a 30 acre ranch with 7 wonderful horses, lots of new friends, no neighbors, a little log home along with the main house. I have 2 peacocks that are just the most wonderful animals. We have 5 raccoons, 3 skunks and 3 fox that we get the chance to see and feed every night. What a life here we have! too bad JR. I don't normally wish bad things on people, but after knowing all of the innocent people she has hurt, had affairs with married men, and those she cheated out of their money!

If Jeanne Rizzotto would like to come here and live in her little trailer (which by the way was part of her bankrupsy), I do take in strays!

Here was the comment"
Jeanne came to Vero Beach FL and tried to get a job as a sales associate. Not long after interviews, she would ask each for a loan. None were given. I believe she's left town as no one would hire her"

Friday, January 27, 2012

Dear readers;
In a previous post I talked about how Sarah baeckler was using the sanctuary chimps in a magazine. Exploiting I say! Why is it ok for her to do that but when private owners exploit their chimpanzees it's the most awful thing in the world? IN my opinion her sanctuary and some of the zoos don't agree with Chimps in the entertainment business because if they are the only ones with chimps, they get to make money off of them.

Funny how Sarah was put at Sid Yost ranch to spy on him, when he was in fact one of the best trainers I ever meet. I spent 2 weeks with his chimps and him. One of which was Angel who was about 220 lbs. She laid in the hammock and let me tickle her, we did gardening together, she was just like an adult person. Now IF she had been abused at ALL, she would not have been out of her enclosure walking around the ranch. So Sarah and Bruce Wagman of the ALDF had a plan to set him up, she lied, and his chimps were taken away. For a reward........ she got the tiny little sanctuary, which by the way is in the coldest part of the country with her little troupe of 7 chimps. A thank you per say for lying. I know she lied about me! She along with others of her statue will lie to gain popularity. In my opinion she is a want to be, the worst kind of chimpanzee people. Those chimps should NOT be in such cold weather. How many times a year do you think they go outside? For years they never even had an outside enclosure. To me that's abuse!
After posting the previous article I received this comment about her, which in my opinion is right on the mark.

Comment from one of my readers
This is hideous. Is there no other way for the hypocrites to gain noteriety and donations other than to pat themselves on the back and bring down others?

Ms Baeckler, well known in the small chimp circles she runs with, has been used as a pawn and figurehead for their advocacy of non-exploitation for almost seven years now.

She has made a career out of whoring herself for her own noteriety and fame, at the expense of others.

Is she truly a primatologist?

Is she truly and advocate?

Or is she just a mouthpiece for the Goodall's and the Fouts' of the world - who used the bespectacled mousey little make believe scientist to lie about Yost, advance her own personal agenda, and reward her with her little seven chimp sanctuary in the hills of Washington.

Hey Beackler, if you really want to do something valuable with your life, why don't you drag your sorry little lying ass in front of the cameras and tell the world all of the horrific things that the US Government is still doing to chimps - I don't see you advocate for them.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Hi Readers;
As promised previously, here is the e-mail that I sent to Bruce Wagman, (whom I thought was a friend of mine and ALL animals.) I suppose helping me with my ex-Chimp, Mikey wasn't glorious enough for him.

The person mentioned in the e-mail was Steve Ross, one of the people on the SSP Board. I will talk about him and post his e-mails on another day, along with the story of when we dropped our chimpanzees off at the Little Rock Zoo..

I swear all of these people that pretend to want to help ALL animals are in for one thing only, their reputation!!!!!

The e-mail:
Hi Bruce;

This is not an e-mail I thought I would ever write, however, I am asking you for your help again.

If, you have not heard the very sad and devastating news, Louie our little chimp at the Little Rock Zoo has passed away.

Needless to say we are both devastated and crying is back to a way of life for us today.

Would you be willing to represent me on behalf of Mikey to get him transfered to a sanctaury? He is fixed, is all alone now, and I fear for his health and safety. It has been almost 3 years now and the zoo has not gotten them with the troupe. Now Mikey has no chance at all with the 2 very large dominate males they have which will result in him never going outside and staying in the little dungeon under the ground that they call a habitat..

I have contacted a friend of mine at a sanctaury ( I removed the name of the sanctuary) and offered to build a cage large enough for Mikey and a few more chimps. I am waiting to see if this is possible. I also contacted Steve Ross (the one that guaranteed me their safety) and asked him to consider the transfer or I would go to the media.

Here is the e-mail I sent to him:

"Hi Steve;

Well I never thought for one second that we would receive the devastating and heart breaking news I did today.

I am going to ask you nicely because I know you can make this decision.

I would like Mikey to get transferred to a sanctuary! I have money now and am able to purchase a primadome for the sanctuary. It isn't fair to Mikey that he doesn't have anyone. He is fixed and has no chance at all with the troupe you have there at the zoo. It has been 3 years now and still he is not with the troupe. I can't believe that we did not get this information until Louie died!!!!! Nothing like not giving us the chance to say good bye to him. After all we did raise him from a baby and for over 5 years. How fair was that to us? to Louie? and now to Mikey? I hope for every ones sake that nothing happens to Mikey when he decides not to eat because of the lose of his brother.

I'm really hoping that you will agree to this "in writing" so I can start making the arrangements.

I have a list of media #'s that I want to call right now, but will wait for your reply, please don't hestitate.. You know that I am a very determined person, and I will tell everything I know, including when Chance was transfered with a big chimp and upon arrival he almost bleed to death. Mikey is my love and I want him safe and happy.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

For those of you readers that are new to this site The Little Rock zoo had 2 of my ex-chimps, one if which, Louie at the age of 7 passed away in their care! He was still a baby. Never sick one day in his short little life. We love you Louie Louie. I have been trying to get the other one out of there (have a place for him) before he dies also. In the past 3 years they have has 2 infant chimps die, one adolescent, and a gorilla. I hope this brings awareness to not only the elephants but also the Chimpanzees!
I HATE this zoo for allowing my little chimp to die. He was cared for with a vet that specializes in Reptiles! For Goodness sake/ if you scroll down you can read all of the posts about our little Louie and the uncaring way they told us about him. Our hearts are broken to say the least. We thought they would be well taken care of. My other chimp, Mikey is still being housed all by himself after 2 years. I believe they have no idea what they are doing. Sometimes it just seems as though no one cares. I even contacted Bruce Wagman of the aldf (whom I thought was a friend of mine and cared for all animals,) BUT he wasn't interested in helping me get Mikey out of there where he could be safe and with other chimps. The place where he should be I have been there dozens of times and actually placed a monkey there who is thriving with his female friend.

If anyone can help my little chimp who I love soooo much please contact me through this blog. The writer of this article, if you would like to know some of the real truth about this zoo, I'm the one to tell you. I would be more than happy to tell you everything from my own experience and things that were told to me by one of the caretakers of the zoo. Just google my name for my history.

Little Rock, Ark. (January 17, 2012) – The 2011 list of the Ten Worst Zoos for Elephants, released yesterday by In Defense of Animals (IDA), once again exposes the hidden suffering of elephants in zoos, where lack of space, unsuitably cold climates and unnatural conditions condemn Earth’s largest land mammals to lifetimes of deprivation, disease and early death. The list is in its eighth year.

A promising trend toward the closure of inadequate elephant displays continued in 2011 and includes zoos that have appeared on IDA’s annual list. The most recent are the Central Florida Zoo and Southwick’s Zoo in Massachusetts. The Toronto Zoo’s appearance on the 2009 list sparked a campaign that led to the closure of that exhibit in 2012. This brings the number of zoos that have closed or will close their elephant exhibits to 22, and zoo experts expect that number to rise.

The Little Rock Zoo appears for the first time on IDA’s list with the following entry:

Little Rock Zoo (Arkansas) – Two’s not a crowd. After the death of Mary in 2011, IDA urged the zoo not to seek a cage-mate for remaining elephant Ellen but to instead close its outdated exhibit and send Ellen to a spacious, natural-habitat sanctuary. Instead, the zoo recklessly rushed in two older elephants acquired from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus – even though Ellen and one of the elephants were predictably incompatible – in order to meet the required AZA minimum of three elephants. Ellen died less than a month later, and the zoo found itself with two elephants and again out of compliance. With a shortage of elephants in zoos, it’s only a matter of time before this zoo is forced to end its elephant program. It should save Little Rock taxpayers some money and the elephants a lot of misery by ending its elephant program now.

The San Diego Zoo Safari Park (California) earns yet another dishonorable mention, and the San Antonio Zoo (Texas) becomes the newest inductee into the Worst Zoos for Elephants Hall of Shame, a special honor reserved for the worst repeat offenders.

Another result of IDA’s relentless advocacy for elephants in zoos has been the creation of an historic management policy by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). The new policy calls for an end to handling that requires keepers to share the same unrestricted space with elephants. If the AZA is serious about enforcing this policy, it will facilitate an end to the use of the bullhook, a weapon used by keepers to threaten and often inflict painful physical punishment.

“IDA’s Ten Worst Zoos for Elephants list illustrates the many serious problems that condemn elephants to lives of misery in zoos,” said IDA Elephant Campaign Director Catherine Doyle. “These include abnormal repetitive behaviors, hyper-aggression, social isolation, and deadly conditions such as foot and joint disease caused by lack of space and movement.”

“Scientific research has shown what elephants need: space to walk miles every day, large families with whom to spend their lives, and rich natural environments,” said Doyle. “Caging elephants in zoo displays is not humane and it is not conservation.”

In Defense of Animals is an international animal protection organization located in San Rafael, Calif. dedicated to protecting animals’ rights, welfare, and habitat through education, outreach, and our hands-on rescue facilities in India, Africa, and rural Mississippi.
Story credit here

To our ex-Chimpanzees

To Louie we love you and may God Bless your soul.To Mikey we love you and hope you will always be happy and healthy.

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Help Save Our Citizens and Our Chimpanzees

Call your state representative, tell them to Ban Chimpanzees in your state!

January's Article

From the Fall of 2008 Through 2009 – The Chimpanzee Year in Review

This past year has been one of sadness, sorrow, change, and hope. I would like to take this opportunity, as we begin 2010, to reflect back and highlight the changes that we now, hopefully, are really beginning to see as the world’s attitude towards privately owned chimpanzees, and primates in general, change in a positive way.

The highlights begin, actually, late in the fall of 2008 when our chimps, Mikey and Louie, the two busiest and most popular working chimpanzees in America, retired to Little Rock Zoo. I wanted them to have a future as part of a family of chimps, and to have a safe and permanent home that they could live their life as chimpanzees, not a member of the human society.

In November of 2009, Connor and Kramer the chimpanzees owned by private pet owner Jeanne Rizzotto escape from her home near Red Lodge, Montana. They spent over an hour running loose, crossing highways and entering neighbor’s property. Connor, a habitual biter as described in court papers filed after the incident, bites a woman on the arm as she tries to keep him out of her home, losing 6-8 inches of skin from her arm. Rizzotto is told to keep the chimps in quarantine at her home while health officials investigate the incident. Rizzotto claims the chimps were let out by a vandal that had cut a lock, however that remains unproven. All of these articles have been posted on this Simian Library.

In February, 2009, tragedy strikes, and the world’s attention turns to the issue of private ownership of chimpanzees. On a cold afternoon in Stamford Connecticut, Travis the Chimpanzee attacks a long time friend of owner Sandra Herold named Charla Nash in Herold’s driveway. Travis is shot and killed by a patrol officer as the 14 year old, 200 pound male chimpanzee; tries to pry open the door of his patrol car as he responded to the tragedy. Nash is rushed to the hospital, and remains in a coma for months.

Weeks later, in early March, the US House of Representatives passes the Captive Primate Safety Act, banning sales of all primates across state lines. The bill moves on to the senate, where it still sits, not being acted on, to this day.

In late November, 2008, neighbors turned in a couple in Houston, Texas for a chimpanzee living in a garage in a suburban neighborhood. Fred Henry, now known simply as Henry, was over fifteen years old and had been living in the garage in a cage for 15 years. Weighing only 65 pounds, about 100 pounds underweight, the emaciated chimp is taken to the local SPCA where veterinarians and animal officials nurse him back to health. On Feb 23, 2009, Henry is moved to Chimp Haven in Shreveport, LA to live out the rest of his life with other chimps in a safe and enriching environment.

Later in March, a chimpanzee named Timmy escapes from his owners’ home in rural Missouri. The owner, Mary Overton, was a former director of The Simian Society of America, a group that promotes and encourages private primate ownership. Timmy is shot and killed by a police officer as he attempts to pry open the door to the officer’s patrol car. Investigators charge all residents of the home with animal cruelty, as they find a “puppy mill” on the premises, with dead dog carcasses scattered throughout the property and over a hundred sick and undernourished animals, including several monkeys.

On March 4, 2009 Nightline on ABC airs over fifteen minutes of footage taken by a HSUS undercover worker at the University Of Louisiana Lafayette National Primate Research Center. The video shows acts of cruelty and inhumane treatment of chimpanzees, including scores of baby chimpanzees in a holding cell with no enrichment or even a blanket. The video brings new awareness to the plight of research chimpanzees, and turns up the pressure on the labs. A follow up investigation by the USDA, following the issuance of a 108 page complaint by the HSUS against the lab, reinforces the findings of the video taken.

Carole Noon, founder and director of Save the Chimps in New Mexico and Fort Pierce Florida passes away from pancreatic cancer at the age of 59. Noon, perhaps the world’s most famous chimpanzee advocate, founded Save the Chimps in 1997. She led the purchase of the former troubled Coulston Foundation research facility near Almagordo, New Mexico in order to rescue over 250 chimpanzees that had been used by the government for research, mostly from the space program in the 60’s and 70’s. The chimpanzees in her care, now numbering over 270, were being moved from New Mexico to the Florida facility, hailed as the largest chimpanzee sanctuary in the world. Noon left a legacy of care, compassion, and love for the species that will never be duplicated. The chimpanzee community misses her dearly.

In June, a news story from a Tampa Florida television station airs a story about a baby chimpanzee now residing at Big Cat Habitat in Sarasota, Florida, home of the Rosaire family of circus trainers. The chimpanzee, named Eli, was supposedly rejected at birth by his mother and is being raised by Kay Rosaire and Gini Valbuena. Valbuena, a long time buyer of baby chimpanzees that once described herself as being “addicted to chimpanzees”, is advertised in the news story as the chimps’ “full time nanny”.

On December 10, 2009 Tom, a 44 year old chimpanzee that lived the last 14 years at the wonderful Fauna Foundation in Canada, passed away. Tom had been a research chimpanzee for the first thirty years of his life, languishing in a five foot by five foot by seven foot high stainless steel cage. He was the victim of countless laboratory tests, biopsies, injections, and suffering. Tom was the face of Project R&R, aimed at releasing all chimpanzees from biomedical and invasive research, and the driving force behind the Great Ape Protection Act now before Congress. There are still 1400 chimpanzees used in biomedical research in the United States today.

On December 17th, 2009, ten more chimpanzees arrived in Fort Pierce Florida as part of the Great Chimp Migration continues. Save the Chimps, the largest chimpanzee sanctuary in the world, transfers ten chimps at a time to the islands in the Florida facility as funds allow. An anonymous donor gave the $25,000 for this trip, and the Arcus Foundation has agreed to match all funds donated to Save the Chimps up until April of 2010. Start your year right – and donate to the Great Chimp Migration today!